Usain Bolt gifted a tax-free trip to London for 2012 Games anniversary meeting at Olympic Stadium

George Osborne has granted a tax amnesty to overseas athletes competing in
this summer’s London Grand Prix in the Olympic Stadium to ensure that Usain
Bolt takes centre stage on the anniversary of the Olympic opening ceremony.

Returning hero: Usain Bolt, here celebrating his 200 metres gold at last year's Olympics, has not raced in Britain since 2009 because tax rules for foreign sports stars would leave him out of pocket Photo: REUTERS

With the exception of the Olympics, Bolt has not raced in Britain since 2009 because the tax rules for foreign sports stars would leave him out of pocket.

But the Chancellor has agreed to a “one-off exemption” for the meeting that will allow the triple Olympic champion and the rest of the world’s leading overseas athletes to compete tax-free in a reprise of the track and field programme at the London Olympics.

Osborne said: “The Government is determined to do everything possible to secure the Olympic legacy and I am delighted to grant this exemption.”

The Chancellor’s decision follows a series of meetings with Lord Coe, the London 2012 chairman and now the Government’s Olympics legacy ambassador, who had lobbied for the tax rules to be waived to allow Bolt to take part.

Although stars such as double Olympic champion Mo Farah and heptathlon gold medallist Jessica Ennis had already pledged their support for the event, the presence of the world’s most iconic athlete will add lustre to the anniversary celebrations.

The meeting, which forms part of the international Diamond League series, was originally due to be staged in its traditional home of Crystal Palace but was switched to the Olympic Stadium last month to mark the first anniversary of the Games on July 27.

It is understood that the meeting will retain its two-day format, with an evening session on Friday, July 26, and a second session the following day. The two days of competition are now set to be one of the highlights of the athletics summer, possibly even rivalling the World Championships in Moscow in August in terms of spectator interest.

The huge number of people who have already registered for priority tickets on the UK Athletics website means there are high hopes that both sessions will be an 80,000 sell-out.

Bolt has always insisted that he would love to compete in Britain again, particularly because London is his main European base during the summer season, but tax regulations made it impossible because he would be paying out more than he earned.

Although he commands a typical appearance fee of $250,000 (£160,000), tax rules mean he would be paying tax not just on his earnings at the meeting but on a proportion of his entire global income, including his multi-million dollar sponsorship deals.

“It’s good news for the Diamond League meeting and British sport in general,” he said. “The rules were discouraging a lot of the top stars from competing in the UK when they had options elsewhere.”

Simms added that Bolt had already signed contracts to compete in various meets around the world this summer and he would now have to talk to the sprinter and his coach, Glen Mills, about adding London to his programme.

Simms said: “I think it’s about two weeks before the World Championships, which is quite late, but it’s London and it’s the Olympic Stadium again so it obviously has an attraction.”

It is understood that Osborne was persuaded to offer the tax concession because of the significance of the anniversary and the importance of cementing an Olympic legacy. The loss of tax revenue is believed to be negligible compared to the wider benefits to London and athletics.

The exemption affects only non-resident athletes, and covers any appearance fees, prize money and the slice of sponsorship income that would normally be taxable.

A Treasury source said the Chancellor was keen to play his part in building on the momentum of the Games by re-creating another “Super Saturday” in the stadium. Privately, there is high praise for the efforts of Coe in arguing for a tax amnesty and banging the drum for athletics.

The news has been welcomed by UK Athletics, which said in a statement: “We are delighted with the announcement from the Chancellor, which recognises the unique nature of this summer’s weekend of international athletics in the Olympic Stadium marking the first anniversary of London 2012.”

The governing body has yet to announce a new sponsorship deal since its contract with Aviva expired at the end of last year but the prospect of two capacity crowds in the Olympic Stadium will be a big selling point for would-be corporate backers.

The London Grand Prix will be the first sports meeting to be exempted from the tax rules for non-resident athletes at the discretion of the Government.

The 2011 Champions League final at Wembley and the Olympic Games were both subject to a tax amnesty but that was a contractual obligation agreed with Uefa and the International Olympic Committee. This year’s Champions League final and the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have similar contractual exemptions.